The Ark: Island Saga
by AlternateUniversal
Summary: A young man washes up on the beach on a mysterious island, he quickly finds himself in a perilous savage world surrounded by monsters, can this young man dodge predators, fight off aggressive tribes, and combat the harsh elements of the island long enough to dominate the island and escape, or will he be another of the countless corpses who litter this savage land.
1. Chapter 1

At first, I didn't really feel anything, I was just floating through some black space of nothingness. That was at least until I felt sand scratching my back, and a scorching sun blazing my face. I painfully opened my eyes and lifted myself up into a sitting position surveying my surroundings. I was on some sort of beach. The sand and large body of water in front of me gave that away. I lifted up my left arm as I felt something inside of it, I wouldn't call the feeling painful but it was definitely a pressure, I inspected my appendage and found a strange prism embedded into my flesh. I scratched at it absentmindedly as I got to my feet.

After more looking around, I deduced that there was a large log of driftwood half hanging out of the waterfront to my right. There were some large boulders blocking my way to the left, and a sheer cliff that stopped me from going inland, unless I dared to climb it, which I wasn't about to do seeing as I was still feeling light headed and... Hungry.

My stomach growled bad temperedly as I moved along the beach, suddenly I noticed a few bushes along the cliff which I staggered over to and began to pick berries from, I picked a mixture of blue, red, and yellow berries from the bush and examined the handful of berries in my hand. I had a bit of an internal struggle as my mind shouted that these berries might not be safe for consumption. Unfortunately, my stomach wasn't having it, it growled and sheathed loudly until I finally gave in and took a big juicy mouthful of the berries.

Finally, my stomach quieted, but my throat took the call to arms. I needed water; my eyes immediately went to the ocean. Which I wasn't happy with salt water didn't help thirst and it couldn't really be digested. At least as far as I knew, then I took in another major detail. The air didn't smell salty, like most of the beaches I'd been to you could smell a faint scent of salt through the breeze, there was no such smell here. I took a few hesitant steps over to the sea and bent over taking a bit of water in my right hand. I took a small sip as the liquid seeped between my fingers and fell onto the sand changing it from tan to brown in a small area. It was fresh.

I smacked my lips a bit as my thirst was quenched, I didn't know what to do after that. I leaned against the cliff for some shelter against the wind, I realized that I was pretty much naked, save a small pair of shorts with covered my unmentionables. I decided not to focus on that detail and instead focus on exactly how I'd gotten here. I closed my eyes and tried to reminisce about my day before coming to this beach.

I had been on my way to a lecture from Professor Abraham, just a normal college day for me until everything went black and I'd woken up on a beach in who knows where. I looked to the right and to the left I seemed to be alone. There weren't even any birds around, at least I was alone until some short squat creature came scuttling out of the ocean. I'd never seen anything like it, the closest I could compare it to was a horseshoe crab and even that was a long way off. I got to my feet and walked over, it seemed entirely deaf to my presence as I picked it up off the ground. It was heavy, I held it on the sides of its shell and examined its legs which seemed to still want to be walking after being picked up. I set it back on the ground and continued to observe the small shelled creature.

My attention didn't stay on the shelled thing for very long I heard a loud screech coming from my left on the other side of the boulders. I stood stunned, that had sounded big. A bit bigger than a human at least. I took a step back hoping beyond hope I'd be able to outrun it, whatever it was. I spied movement from the other side of the rocks and was surprised to find a girl, around my age climbing up the rocks. She was a bit of a looker, and I was a little ashamed to notice that before anything else. She had short cut braided brown hair, an athletic body, tan skin and from my distance it was hard to tell but she had... Green eyes. For clothing she was more well off then me, wearing knee length pants of some hide make, and a top also made from hide which were sleeveless. She had a pack which seemed to be encumbering her back, and a bow hanging limp in her left hand. She leapt off of the rocks and landed running she noticed me and I saw her point behind her and yell, "RAPTOR"! I didn't know what to make of that, I didn't see anything behind her but I didn't figure it was her who made that noise.

"What are you talking about"? I called as she reached me, she turned around quizzically, as if she expected the... She'd said raptor. To be closer behind her than it truly was. She took a glance at me and pointed at the rocks. She reached to the pack on her back and pulled out an arrow. She brought the shaft to string and pulled back the arrow bring the bow to the side of her head for a better shot. I almost asked her what she meant by raptor, but she noticed me about to open my mouth and shushed me.

I heard a scrabbling behind the rocks and my eyes widened as there was a loud sound of pebbles receding down a surface. I was stunned into silence as I finally got an eyeful of the raptor. It was big bigger than me at least. It was mostly scaly with a crown of feathers atop its head. Its cold glassy eyes surveyed the two of us, I swear I could almost count its teeth I was so focused upon them, until my eyes fell onto its cruelly curved claws. I could so easily imagine those claws ripping my guts out it wasn't even funny.

The raptor made a series of clicking sounds in its throat as it leapt off of its perch and turned its head sideways at us. I noticed the girl moving the bow from side to side trying to get a shot on the animal. The raptor turned on us suddenly screeching and rushing at the two of us with alarming speed. The girl gritted her teeth a loosed the arrow, there was an audible thump as the shaft buried itself right between the raptor's eyes. The creature gave a loud screech of pain as it flopped forward and lay limp upon the sand. The girl took a breath of relief and I could feel my own heart start to beat a bit slower.

Now she turned to me, I honestly got a bit frightened that the next arrow she fired would be in my direction but she just laughed at me. "Why the hell" she managed to get out between laughs. "Are you trying to travel through here without any weapons". I didn't know what to say to that statement.

"Well I'm not travelling anywhere I just sort of woke up and". I was trying to explain myself however the girl wasn't seeming to have it. As she cut me off mid-sentence as she pulled out a steel knife from her pack.

"Oh, you're a new guy" she said. I couldn't really say much as my eyes wouldn't leave the wickedly pointed blade in her hands. "Will you stop staring at me like that, if I wanted to kill you, I would've kept on running and let the raptor eat you. Name's Jackie, but most people just call me Deadshot. I'm gonna start stripping this raptor, if you wanna help that would be great" she said. I nodded dumbly.

"I'll help, if you uh tell me what to do" I said. She began to use the knife to hack at the claws of the raptor. She turned to me and pointed to the feathers on its head.

"Start pulling these off, I have a friend who likes them. After I get the claws off I'm on the move, you can come if you want. I'll take you to my tribe and ask Hugh about whether or not you can join, I'd say you've got a fifty-fifty chance of getting in. It's kind of a journey though" she said plucking out the last claw and sticking it in her pack.

I pulled off the last feather and followed her, I wasn't really wanting to stay by myself anyway, and she had weapons and apparently knew how things worked in this place. Which were all good reasons to stick with her. "What is your name anyway, quiet guy" said Jackie.

I remembered I should've introduced myself awhile ago, so I gave her my name, "I'm Barry" I said following close behind. She nodded and climbed onto the rocks offering me a hand up. I took it and she pulled me onto the rocks. "Do you want me to give you these feathers" I asked? She opened her pack and held it out. I took it as an invitation to dump the feathers into it which I took. On top of the rocks I could see much farther into the horizon, was that snow up ahead.

She pointed to the snow, "we'll make a stop at Coldsreach along the way, that's what I came out here for in the first place, the raptor got the drop on me and I'm lucky I'm not dino chow at the moment. It's a bit of a trek through dangerous territory but if you're smart, but if _you _do something stupid and its too dangerous for me to try and help you... Well I'm sorry, but I won't be risking my ass to save yours" said Jackie. I nodded that was reasonable.

"What kind of danger are we talking about here" I said. I then realized I was still pretty much nude and now there was a girl around here, but she hadn't said anything so I decided to just ignore it.

"Mostly the cold, but a big danger is dire wolves. They're everywhere when you get close to Coldsreach, I guess the scraps of a trading town attract them" she reached into the pack and pulled out a pair of leather pants which matched her own. "They might not fit like a glove, but they'll keep you warmer than those". She threw the pants at me, I felt that might be more her way of telling me to put some damn clothes on.

I nodded gratefully and covered myself up as she started walking, I followed her by skidding down the rocks carefully. "You it's getting dark right" said Jackie pointing skyward.

"What does that mean" I asked? Feeling stupid and useless. She gave me a look that told me for the moment she agreed with me.

"That means predators are gonna come out of the forest and it's gonna get a whole lot colder. We should collect things to make a fire" she said. Listing off things she'd need to make said fire. Thatch, wood, stones, and flints. She said she'd handle the flints because she had a pick and I didn't so I started to collect stones off the beach. Once I had a lot of stones, which disappeared into my arm thing, much to my surprise. I grabbed a large log of driftwood and dragged it over to where I could see Jackie hitting a rock with a pick. "That'll do" she said. Stripping the tree of thatch and taking whatever wood was left she set up a firepit, and I beat a pair of flints together to get a fire going, which worked quite well as I stood and admired our handiwork she said. "You're not as useless as you look Barry, even if you don't anything, and I did most of the work".

I was a little hurt by her jibe but didn't want to piss her off. The dusk sky was punctuated by a loud howl. She held up a finger to me and whispered. "Kill the fire. Now" she said.

"Why" I said not understanding. Wild animals were scared of fire, right? She grunted me annoyed as she suffocated the fire in dirt.

"Night Screamers. They're a tribe of cannibals, they only ride at night. You can find them just about anywhere along the island but the sect around here usually rides dire wolves. I was hoping they wouldn't be riding near here tonight but I was wrong. Move now" she said. Getting up and not waiting to see if I followed her or not. I was too scared not to. I quickly got up and sped after her feeling a pair of eyes following me as I moved. As we had moved the cliff face had changed into a forest, and in the dark depths of the forest I could see lights swaying between the trees as if they were galloping, then I realized those were torches. Jackie noticed them as well, and I heard her mutter fuck under her breath before speeding up. I followed suit desperate to keep up.


	2. Chapter 2

I tried desperately to keep pace with Jackie as we sped across the rocky beach, that snowy area was getting closer now as we went down the beach. I had this feeling of being watched as if there was at least one pair of eyes glued to my back from the forest, which wasn't even close to the creepiest thing about the night atmosphere.

Coming from the trees were bloodcurdling screams as well as hoots into the night, they were sometimes joined by beastly howls. I knew at least the screams must be the Night Screamers, the hoots probably were as well. I could almost hear the pounding of wolf feet on the ground. Jackie looked ahead, and side to side frantically. She was more on edge than I was, at least by the look of her. She probably knew more about these Night Screamers than I did. She pointed to a large stone just a little way out on the water it was just on the border between sand and snow. I almost had to do a double take, there was a clear-cut artificial border between sand and snow. Surely that can't be right. "We're gonna split up and meet at that rock, kay" she said.

I started to protest but she didn't exactly listen to me and she just kind of splintered off there wasn't exactly many places where she could go but to Jackie's credit she jumped over logs and vaulted boulders way better than I could ever hope to. I just kept running forward going side to side a bit to shake them. I didn't dare look over my shoulder as I ran for my life. I got to the water's edge and waded through the water, having to swim at one point. I'd climbed the rock before I even dared to turn around. Then I saw something awful.

There was a group of five or six people with three wolves standing off to the side. Jackie seemed to be trapped. What with the people pointing spears in her direction, as a wolf was poised to get in the way of any exit she might come up with. I didn't really know what to do, Jackie had pulled out a knife and was fending off the Screamers with it. I knew I had to help her, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if she got killed, and anyway she'd saved me already when that raptor showed up, but unlike Jackie, I had no incredible bow shooting skills. I didn't even have a bow. All I had was pants, and a single stone I'd picked up while walking.

I looked up and down the beach tapping my foot in impatience while I tried to gain an idea on what I could do to get these cannibals off of my... Well I'd known her for a day and a half so not friend but definite associate who I didn't want to see murdered.

I slowly and quietly slid off of the rock and waded forward through the shallows. I tried not to make a noise when something big brushed past my leg, of course I couldn't make out what it was in the darkness. Luckily, I didn't feel any sharp teeth digging into my legs so that was good. I pulled myself out of the water and tried to hold myself low. I could see the shadows of torchlight ahead I couldn't actually pick out Jackie or the Night Screamers but the shadows were enough to let me know they were still there.

Okay, now what. I looked around to see what I had to work with, rocks, sticks, and bushes. So, pretty much nothing but I didn't really know how to fight anyway, if it came down to a fight, I'd just be rushing out there waving some sticks around, and I'd end up getting shish kabobbed by Night Screamer spears. I definitely wanted to avoid that. Suddenly, the sounds of snoring reached my ears.

Upon closer inspection a large boulder to my right wasn't a boulder. I slowly took a step towards the thing, whatever it was. Upon closer inspection it was an armored mass of scales. Then, I found a giant head filled with teeth longer than my fingers. Suddenly the thing in my arm lit up.

_Rex_

Did that mean this thing was a T rex? I grew a sneaky grin on my face as I got an idea. Of course, this idea was stupid, dangerous and almost if not more likely to get me killed then just rushing the night time creepers. I picked up a stick and looked behind me, there was still torch light but I needed to hurry. There's no way that she'd be able to stall for much longer. I turned back to the rex and took a scared gulp, I could feel the courage draining from my body. I shook myself, "Come on, don't chicken out now" I said to myself while raising the stick. Without giving myself time to cower out of it again I smacked the rex right on the nose with the stick.

A red malicious eye flicked open, and two warm streams of arm blew out of two giant nostrils. The pupil went forward and rested on me. The red eye narrowed and I didn't stick around to see what happened next. I turned around and ran straight to the torchlight. I heard a small tremor behind me, shortly followed by a roar so powerful it almost stopped me in my tracks. I covered my ears with my hands and kept on running. I could almost feel the rex's breath on my back, but I wasn't stopping to look behind me, that was rule number one of being chased. Don't, look, behind, you.

I vaulted a log and saw the scene once more, Jackie had killed one of the wolves, leaving a bloody mass of fur off to the side as the Night Screamers looked just about to run her through with some spears, that was until they noticed my entourage. They gave high pitched scream as they tossed spears at the rex before turning and running. Jackie locked eyes with me and said something along the lines of, "YOU DUMBASS"! But, with my ears plugged I couldn't hear what she said. I turned sharply to the left and there was an audible snap where I'd been just a few moments before.

I had been literally seconds away from being crunched, great. Jackie didn't get caught in the moment like I did, she rushed over, grabbed me by the arm and pulled me up. After that we both ran like hell out of there. It looked like having spears thrown at it, had pissed off the rex more than me smacking it with a stick.

We stopped at the edge of a lake in the shape of an oval. We both leaned forward trying to catch our breath. I took longer than Jackie to get mine back, something that kind of made me feel weak, but I was getting used to that. "Thanks... I thought I was a goner" said Jackie after a bit, still looking out from the way we had come.

"You saved me, I was just returning the favor" I said. After a bit I realized that was just me trying to sound cool. "That, was the most terrifying thing, I have ever done" I struggled out, falling back and causing a cloud of sand to puff up and into my face. I puffed a bit of the sand out of my face.

Jackie laughed. "Yeah, you're a tough guy. I've never known anybody who pissed off a rex and survived. But most people are smart to just let a sleeping rex lie" said Jackie. "Looks like we're safe". I nodded not really paying too much attention.

"How much longer to Coldsreach" I asked? Jackie pulled up her fingers and counted something on them.

"About, three days" she said. "We'll head out into the snow tomorrow, it's pretty much suicide to travel in that place when you can't see, and torches can attract some nasty attention. Get some sleep, I'll wake you up when it's your turn to watch".


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry this third chapter took so long to finish**

I have to say, I was surprised that nothing bothered us that night, I mean it didn't seem possible after I'd pissed off a T. Rex, but we slept well. Before we started north in the morning Jackie showed me how to put together a few of the basic tools. Mainly a shirt made of plant fibers, and some stone tools, it wasn't as hard as I thought it'd be. All I needed to do was collect the stuff, rocks that were just lying around the beach, thatch and wood from driftwood. Which she told me to punch, I got the stuff but I do not recommend doing that. Plant fibers were pretty simple to get, all I needed to do was pick apart some bushes.

After I was good and outfitted, we started to trek down the beach. "So, we're going into the snow" I asked, to which Jackie nodded.

"Yeah, that's where Coldsreach is, unless you want to go South, on your own" said Jackie with a touch of smugness at the fact she thought I couldn't survive on my own. I mean I probably couldn't but that did not mean I appreciated her attitude.

"But, will we not freeze to death in the snow" I pointed out. Jackie gave a chuckle.

"Oh yeah, I forgot you wouldn't know about the burning road. There's a path with torches on both sides, it melts the snow, keeps predators away, and only goes to Coldsreach so that people can get there without making, or buying some fur armor" explained Jackie. I nodded and pretended I knew what she was talking about. I didn't really expect there to actually be a road of torches but turns out I was wrong. Jackie turned to the right and there it was, the burning road.

It was literally a long dirt road with torches put in regular intervals on either side, all of the torches were lit to the point that I was surprised I didn't notice it before. When we got onto the road I expected to be chilly seeing as I was bare foot and we were surrounded by snow, but I actually started to kind of sweat. "So we're not going to get eaten alive by sabretooth tigers walking all exposed like this, right" I asked? Jackie pointed to our left. I turned to look at what she was pointing at and almost pissed my pants. A pair of the biggest wolves I had ever seen were lying on their sides just away from the torches under a huge fir tree. Their eyes seemed to be glued to our every movement, their muscles were quivering as if they'd charge at us and rip us apart at even the slightest opportunity, but they didn't move.

"They're scared of the fire. We'll be fine" said Jackie. "Everyone takes this road, at least to and from Coldsreach, this isn't the kind of place you want to just be walking around in". I gulped as I felt the two pairs of hungry eyes follow us along the path.

"Yeah, I can see that" I stammered, I didn't think that those torches would amount to much if that T. Rex happened to follow us this way. "What about T. Rexes" I asked?

"Oh they wouldn't give a shit. Break these torches right down and swallow us whole I'd say, but they don't go around here much, it's way too cold for them. It's not like someone's going to make a T. Rex sized Burning Road. This place has its own predators but lucky for us they are all scared of fire" said Jackie. I swear this woman was very good at scaring the crap out of me but I gave a breath of relief. No T. Rexes was definitely a good thing. We walked in silence for what felt like and probably was a few hours. My eyes flicked over to the surrounding pine forest every now and then to see either wolves, giant cats that I quickly identified as sabretooths, and at one point there was this big pig thing that I didn't even know what to call except not something I wanted to be around.

Suddenly Jackie stopped and looked to the right, there was a loud crackle as if something absolutely huge was stomping through those woods. I personally did not want to stop and see what it was. "Just calm down" said Jackie. I actually hummed with nervous energy, expecting a frickin rex to come charging into view, but no it was not a T. Rex. It was a big ass fluffy elephant, or as someone with quicker recognition skills would immediately call a mammoth. Well a mammoth wearing a big leather saddle complete with a sort of wooden box, with a rather large black bearded man standing at the front of it.

There were four torches lit on each corner of the box saddle, in more alarming news there were the hollowed out skins of dire wolves hanging over the sides as if to dry. I thought this guy was about to yell, "CHARGE" and have his mammoth squash us into paste but he called down in a friendly voice of recognition. "Deadshot, it has been a long-time comrade". He seemed to speak with some kind of Russian inflection.

"That it has Yugos, how's the fur trade business been" she called back? Oh so they were old pals, or old enemies pretending to be friendly but I reminded myself that this wasn't a movie and real enemies didn't act like that.

"It has been well enough, I was on my way to Coldsreach when I got caught in a snowstorm" he laughed a bit and patted the mammoth on the head causing it to make some kind of rumbling sound. "I am no better than Mungus when it comes to finding my way around. I suppose it is luck that the burning road exists, very easy to find my way back to the trading village".

Jackie laughed at his joke, I on the other hand just kind of stood to the side awkwardly not knowing what to add to the conversation. "As fate would have it, we're also on our way to Coldsreach" said Jackie.

"That is such a coincidence" said Yugos. "Why do we not travel together, you can introduce me to your companion". When the giant man riding the giant fuzzy elephant talked about you let me tell you it is scary, or maybe I'm just a bitch, I have seriously considered that possibility since waking up on that beach but I did not know for sure.

"Sure, let us up old man" said Jackie. I was glad that she said let us up, I was worried the mammoth would just wrap its trunk around us and fling us up there. Yugos reached out of sight for a moment before fling over a rope ladder that hung beside of the mammoth's body. I hesitated not wanting to leave the road out of fear of being attacked by wolves but Jackie saw my scaredness and reassured me. "If any wolves show up the mammoth will probably do something about it".

I nodded seeing sense in what she was saying. I left the safety of the burning road and clambered up the ladder after Jackie. I've gotta say this big Russian dude knew how to organize. In one corner he had a fire pit with a few chairs surrounding it, in the other corner there was some sort of leather strung out. along the sides were assorted animal skins and on the left was a chest of some sort. "This is Barry, I met him yesterday after he had just got here and I'm taking him to see if Tyrone will accept him into the tribe" said Jackie. Yugos offered me a hand, "it is nice to meet you, Barry. I wish you luck against Tyrone, who knows maybe he will be in good mood" said Tyrone.

"Oh, I, uh hope he is. So, are you two part of the same tribe or" I asked? Causing the two of them to look at each other and laugh hysterically.

"I do not run with a tribe. It is just me and Mungus, and quite honestly that is the way I would have it" said Yugos. That opened up another question from me.

"How did you, and Mungus meet" I asked? Yugos raised and eyebrow at me then shrugged.

"You'll figure out how to tame things sooner or later, you know, if you don't die" said Jackie. Always with the if you don't die comments. After that I just let the two of them reminisce I noticed a big metal hammer leaned in one of the corners and figured that must be what Yugos used for a weapon. At some point it started snowing and I helped them put up that leather, which turned out to be some kind of tent made from the skin of whatever a Basilo was.

The swaying of Mungus's movement was actually pretty harmonic and when it came time to sleep I asked. "Is it a good idea for us all to sleep, I mean who's gonna tell the mammoth where to go"?

Yugos answered in between a yawn, "The mammoth knows the way. He will wake us if there is trouble". I nodded satisfied as Yugos threw me and Jackie sleeping bags. The four torches were a good bit of warmth so we each chose a corner and bedded down. It took me a bit to get over the swaying of Mungus and to finally get to sleep but once I did it was a pretty good sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

I awoke to the smell of fires and to the rude awakening of a hand prodding my side. Causing me to straighten up and look from side to side. I heard Jackie laughing at me, as if she hadn't just scared the living shit out of me. "We've arrived" said Jackie pointing over the big fluffy head of Mungus the mammoth. I spotted Yugo packing up his tent.

"But, I thought you said it'd take like three days to get to Coldsreach" I said getting up and looking over the mammoth at the stone wall, Coldsreach seemed to be situated against a cliff, sure enough the burning road sat at either side of us along the road proving that the mammoth must have crossed the torch fence while I at least was asleep.

"Well obviously it'll take less time to get there riding something than it would to just walk there. It probably gave us better time that Mungus didn't stop to sleep, I bet he took a short cut to get here so quickly" Jackie answered my question before I could ask it. Was I THAT easy to read? Well that's it I'm asking less questions from here on out.

All I could see of the town were the very tips of buildings as it was surrounded by a large stone fence at irregular intervals there were people clad in metal, and some other substance. As we got closer, they lifted up their arms I thought I caught sight of flashes of metal. Were those guns? I hadn't really realized that people here would be able to make firearms.

"Just passing through looking for some trade" called out Yugos. The nearest person the giant gate turned and waved to someone behind him and the two gargantuan sides of the door slowly opened.

"So they've got a lot of security around here, huh" I asked? Mungus stomped through the gate and we got our first look at the inside of Coldsreach, well I saw it for the first time. Damnit! I asked another question.

"Coldsreach hires mercenaries to act like security guards at the front gates. It pays well, but you might end up getting frostbite for standing at the city gates in cold absorbing metal for so long" said Jackie. She then proceeded to jump off of the side of the mammoth like it was nothing. When she landed on the ground she looked up and waved up to Yugos. "I hope to see you again soon Yugos". The large man waved back.

"I would say the same" he said. I gulped and gathered my nerve, I was sooooo sick of being a wimp. Before I could talk myself out of it I hopped over the railing and landed on the ground, I've gotta say, don't do that. It does a number on the shins. Jackie patted me roughly on the back.

"I'm proud of ya Barry, now stay close. Some of these animals might not be the most well fed" said Jackie with a bit of a laugh. I held back tears of pain for my poor shins as we trudged down a road made of stone. There were multiple shop stalls all around the road there were weaponshops, clotheshops, saddleshops, armorshops, you name it. What was even weirder to me was how many animals were in town. Almost every stall had a wolf, or a tiger standing beside of it as if to tell people. 'Steal from me and you're dogfood' which was probably what they were trying to say.

Jackie didn't stop at any of these shops she kept going until we made it to a large building made of stone, she kept moving with me in toe and we passed what looked like a small dog lounging on the porch. It slavered up at us and I could hear its tail thump on the ground as if it were excited at the sight of new people. Jackie rapt at the door and a well dressed, and trimmed man opened the door.

"Is my order ready, Morton" asked Jackie? The man gestured to the house and we stepped inside. Morton seemed curious about me but he didn't say anything I got the strong sense that unlike Yugos who was one of Jackie's friends apparently this relationship was strictly professional. There were more of the little dog things inside at least five they were all different colors and they all seemed to be very excited for no apparent reason. Yep they're dogs alright. Morton walked away and eventually returned carrying a large hide bundle of something.

"Here you are miss" said Morton. Jackie gratefully accepted and lifted her left arm, out came what looked to be fifty ingots of metal. That must be his pay, the man lifted his own left arm and took the payment. After which me and Jackie took our leave. I didn't really want to ask anymore questions but I couldn't contain my ever curious mind.

"How long of a walk is it going to be to get to your tribe's place" I inquired? Jackie chuckled a bit.

"By walking, two weeks and we'd die for sure. So we're not doing that, my plan was two rent a flyer for the ride back" said Jackie. I wasn't sure what she meant by flyer but I just went with it for the time being, which of course lead to me seeing the absolute biggest bird in what in my opinion had to be like ever. Jackie walked into this large building as usual with me behind her and it was less of a building and more of a perch. There must've been twenty huge eagles wearing saddles and staring us down as we moved into the building. Jackie passed a young man a few bits of metal and hopped on a bird with reddish and silver feathers.

"Hold still" she called to me as the bird took off. I was about to ask her what she meant until the bird picked me up in its talons and I was a bit too surprised to say anything after that.


	5. Chapter 5

**Before I massacre old English, I thank you for stopping by and giving this story a read.**

I'd never done air travel before, I don't care for planes, helicopters, or zip lines or whatever, so this being carried in a huge eagle's talons was not fun. I did not look down, and this was the longest and scariest ride of my life. I didn't make any conversation with Jackie as I felt the bird rise and fall with every wingbeat. It wasn't very fast and I couldn't really hear anything besides the rushing wind, and the eagle's powerful wingbeats. Eventually the bird began to descend. I was suddenly dropped and I gave an unmanly scream as I plopped onto the dirt. There was a loud thud quickly followed by another one. I looked up to see Jackie looking down at me. There was a rush of sand as the bird took off again. I felt my left hand reach into a bit of water and realized I was lying beside of a large pond. "You alright Barry" she said, helping me up. I took a look around my surroundings we were standing in a sort of crater, Along the rim of the crater someone had built spiked walls. There seemed to be at least three level entrances into the crater, all three blocked off by huge metal gates.

The area inside of the crater was a mostly flat plain with a lake in the center, inside of the lake were multiple beaver dams, huge beaver dams. I saw a few dark shapes gliding through the water, which I quickly identified as the beavers. There was a hill which got more and more steep until it began to overlook the lake, then it turned into a sheer cliff. Around the crater were four buildings, one was quite obviously a greenhouse set in front of the lake. One was huge and made of wood, It was set against one of the crater walls, a third was quite close to us and it was quite small and made of stone, overlooking the lake was by far the largest building, it was made of metal and was framed like some kind of castle complete with landing pads, and a large balcony overlooking the lake. I noticed what looked like turrets placed around the building in certain spots. There was a loud exclamation, "Who hast brought a screaming woman among us" a figure appeared over the hill. It was a man dressed in dark knight armor; a red cape blew in the wind behind of him.

"Hey Renfred, I made it back" said Jackie waving over to the knight. I couldn't see the knight's expression under his helmet but I heard a guffaw come from him as he called back.

"Surely that Shriek did not come from thou, Lady Jack. It was far too high for thy voice" said the knight. "And who is thy companion". Renfred gestured with an arm to me.

"This is Barry, I met him around the northern shores. He's actually a lot more useful than he looks. Saved my skin from some night screamers" said Jackie. Renfred had closed the distance and I wasn't sure where he was looking exactly but he was definitely sizing me up.

"Lord Tyrone recently left on a quest" said Renfred.

"Is Hugh still in" asked Jackie? The Knight nodded.

"Lord Hugh, is accompanying the Stableboy at the moment" said Renfred. I looked at Jackie when the knight said Stableboy, what kind of a tribe had I waltzed into.

"Thanks Renfred, see you around" said Jackie.

"Nice meeting you, Renfred" I called out as Jackie led the way over to the huge wooden building. The knight raised his right fist in some sort of salute in our direction before turning around and marching off to the absolutely huge metal fortress.

We passed by the greenhouse along the way and I noticed a giant beetle wandering around inside of it. There were also quite a few plants growing inside of it, which wasn't surprising. Eventually we stopped at the base of a huge gate which led into the building Jackie used her implant to open it, somehow. I didn't even want to ask. The ground inside was covered in straw which was spaced out, probably kicked up by the animals inside.

There were actually a lot of animals inside, on one side there was some form of big pig, and right beside of it in another corral was a bunch of small birds. I used my implant to identify them.

_Phiomia_

_Dodo_

That was a weird name for a pig. On the left there were two horses drinking from a trough, one of them lifted its head to scrutinize me. In the stable beside of the horses sat two animals that looked like rocks given sentience. Again I used my implant.

_Ankylosaurus_

_Doedicurus_

Jackie seemed to be a bit prideful at me admiring the animals. I finally actually looked down the gigantic barn and noticed two guys standing in front of a giant mound of something. One guy was a lot bigger than the other, the big guy was wearing clothing that made him look like a human shaped walking bush. The little guy's clothing was more like mine except his shirt was colored blue, and his hat had some sort of special design.

"Hey there Hugh, Nick" said Jackie lifting her right arm while waving at them. Hugh turned around, but Nick seemed too interested in the mound.

"Nice to see you back, who's your buddy" said Hugh. Now that I was seeing his face I realized Hugh was no spring chicken, how long had this guy been on the island.

"This is Barry, he's new to the island. I took a dumb risk on the trip to Coldsreach and ended up losing my bird. We went through Night Screamer territory and Barry saved my skin. What do you think about him joining the tribe" said Jackie. Hugh looked at me up and down as if he was judging my usefulness.

"I suppose I don't mind letting him into the tribe. On probation" said Hugh. Pointing at me. "Prove you can be trusted and useful, and you'll be off in no time". I nodded.

"Thanks for giving me a shot... Mr Hugh" I heard the little guy, Nick, stifle a snort. Hugh lifted a hand.

"Just Hugh is fine" said the tribe leader. Suddenly the mound shivered and I realized that it was no mound. It was a frickin dinosaur. My Impant lit up.

_Rex_

Oh, so Jackie's tribe had a T. Rex. Okay. The behemoth gave a loud groan as if it was in pain. "Jackie, take Barry around and give him the tour. Introduce him to Renfred, and Bianca. He can meet Vicky, and Tyrone when they get back" said Hugh. He pointed to the short guy beside of him. "This is Nick, he's the resident Tamer in our little group, and this" Hugh put a hand on the Rex's side. "Is Donald, he's fine, just ate something he wasn't supposed to".

Nick gave a backhanded wave as I followed Jackie out of the building. "So this is where you keep the animals" I questioned?

"Most of them, Nick should make sure Donald stays in here, but he doesn't, Sally stays in the greenhouse, and the shoulderpets stay in the fort, and Tyrone keeps his lizard in his room. Don't try to go in there by the way, it'll try to bite your face off" said Jackie.

"But isn't it yours" I said. Not making sense of that last bit. "Please explain what a shoulderpet is".

"Tyrone uses it to make sure nobody goes into his room. Hugh can go in with no problem, but it'll attack anybody else. Sometimes he takes it out and then its pretty much harmless. A shoulder pet is an animals small enough to sit on your shoulder. Renfred has a Dimorphadon, and I've got an Otter" said Jackie. We made it out of the barn, and she pointed to the smallest building.

"That's the hatchery, it also doubles as a storehouse" said Jackie. I liked to think I was a good and model tour dude. Listening to her and asking questions whenever I didn't understand everything. We made it to the fort which had a comparably tiny door. We went into a cozy little room where a raven haired woman sat in a wooden chair, with something small and fluffy curled up in her lap.

The little bundle of fuzz lifted its head and gave a squeak. It hopped off of the ladies lap and scampered over to Jackie. She picked it up and gave it a good scratch. "This is Bruiser" said Jackie. Introducing me to her otter. "Hey Bianca" said Jackie.

"Hello Jackie, Renfred told me you had a new friend" said Bianca. I waved at her, and we went up a flight of stairs, and there was a hall. Behind a lot of them were signs.

_Barricks of Sir Renfred The Black_

_Bianca's Quarters_

_Nick's room_

_Tyrone's place- Do NOT enter_

There was a hissing noise behind that one. Jackie led me to a blank one. "Here can be your room. Dinner's in an hour, so get acquainted with your space" said Jackie walking off and leaving me to give my new room a look see.


	6. Chapter 6

**Holy shit it's been ages since I wrote this. I got back into Ark recently and with Genesis having just been released I figured I'd pick the story back up, although Genesis stuff won't show up until the Genesis Saga so we'll see if I can get this story that far. I'm also switching to third person, it may seem to come out of nowhere but I have plans for the story's future which would call for seperate perspectives. I'm also more comfortable writing in third person which is obvious when you look at my other works on the site.**

Barry had to say he quite liked his room, or well… He more liked the idea of having a safe space he could call his own where he didn't have to watch his back for people chompin dinosaurs all the time. His room was pretty barren, it had a little bed on the far corner, a glass window overlooking the beaver pond, and a large chest taking up another corner.

He guessed decoration was up to him, that actually sounded fun and not dangerous or scary which was a _serious _plus. He could out of the corner of one ear hear the low hiss of Tyrone's lizard but he decided to ignore that and look down the window. He could make out two figures heading up the hill towards the fort which he guessed were Nick and Hugh.

The thing that most took Barry's focus was the massive shape of the T. Rex walking around the crater near the barn. Donald was doing better it looked like. The rex suddenly let out a massive roar which Barry swore shook the fort.

"HEY! Change of plans Bianca wants your help cooking" Jackie pushed her tan freckled face through the door. "Don't look too disappointed you'll have plenty of time for decoration later". Jackie disappeared out the door. Barry just kind of shrugged and went out the door, he'd just gotten here he didn't want these people to think he was lazy or anything.

Barry found Jackie's otter Bruiser curled up in the room he'd first come in, the otter yawned adorably and looked up at him twithing its nose a bit. Bruiser gave a little squeak before turning and hopping towards the other side of the room. Barry shrugged and followed the little otter to the smell of cooking food. He found himself in a kitchen with a stone floor, cooking appliances lined one wall. The center of the room was taken by a massive table, two large chairs sat at the front of the table. Probably the tribe leader's seats, since as far as Barry could tell there seemed to be two.

There were other chairs set up around the table for the other tribe members. Jackie and Renfred were already seated. The knight had taken his helmet off, revealing his long blonde hair, if Barry didn't know better he would've called the guy Lancelot. He still wore his armor though, sitting on the table a small leathery skinned winged animal looked between the two of them.

"Oh hey Barry" Jackie waved. "Glad to see Bruiser showed you the way".

"Ah, it is the screamy man. How art thou feeling"? Renfred said lifting an arm. Barry looked over to the appliances where Bianca seemed to be stirring something.

"Fine, thanks for asking. My name's Barry, not screamy man… Is that yours"? Barry pointed to the little creature which turned and gave a weird sqwauk in his direction.

"Oh yes, this is Dragon. My fearsome beast" Renfred said scratching Dragon under the chin affectionately with a gauntleted hand.

"He's a small dragon" Jackie said, petting Bruiser who'd hopped onto her lap. All that made Barry want a shoulderpet of his own.

"Hey, Barry. Get over here and cut these rockarrots for me" Bianca called over. Barry hurried over to join her. He didn't bother asking what a rockarrot was, as Bianca pointed to a bunch of carrot looking vegetables on a cutting board. Barry picked up a knife made of metal and started to cut the carrots into small pieces.

Bianca seemed to be making some kind of stew with fish and vegetables. "Is that enough or"? Barry asked poking the pile of carrots with the knife.

"Looks okay, Jackie how are those savoroots being peeled"? Bianca looked back with a raised eyebrow. Jackie immediately knew she'd been caught, and Bianca didn't seem the least bit surprised that she hadn't been doing what she was supposed to.

"Right along" Jackie said, plopping Bruiser on the table before joining Barry and Bianca by the appliances and grabbing what looked like a potato and a knife setting out to peel it.

"Good job scaling the fish Renfred" Bianca said pointedly, as if to show the two younger people that someone had done their job well. Barry felt a little attacked by it but he'd done his job so he ignored it.

"Good news, Donald feels better" the voice of Nick reached Barry's ears as he and Hugh entered the building and they both took their seats. Just as Barry had predicted Hugh took one of the big chairs at the front of the table. Nick held up his engram arm. "I got those eggs you asked for Bianca" he said.

"That's great Nicky, put them in the fridge I'm almost done with this" Bianca said pointing to the pot she was stirring. Nick didn't seem to like the older woman's nickname for him but he did as he was told and moved over to some kind of wooden fridge. "I just needed to add the vegetables". Bianca used a small utensil to shovel the carrots into the pot.

Jackie had peeled a good few potatoes which she gently dropped into the pot. Bianca was good with the knife, she sliced the potatoes into small pieces in record time. "Pass out the plates please Barry" Bianca asked, pointing to a small stack of polished metal plates.

"Sure" Barry said with a shrug before picking up the plates and passing them out. There was one for everyone, including Barry which kind of surprised him, there were four or five extras as well.

"Just feel free to sit anywhere" Hugh told him after Barry had passed out the plates. Barry took a seat across from Renfred. The little dimorph was now comfortably perched on the knight's shoulder while Bianca poured her soup into the plates around the table. Barry inspected the food for a few seconds before shrugging and using a provided spoon to sip it.

Usually Barry wasn't much of a picky eater, though he'd never liked soup, but for the past couple days he'd been going on pretty much nothing but berries he and Jackie had picked on the move. It was pretty tasty if he was being honest.

"So, how many times have you almost died since coming to the Ark, Barry"? Nick finally piped up. "I've almost died… Thirty times since coming to the Ark five years ago".

"HAHAH, only thirty times, I must've almost died at least three hundred times since coming to the Ark, ten years ago" Renfred piped up.

"You shouldn't wear that like a badge of honor you metal plated dummy" Jackie said.

"You really should be more careful" Bianca piped in.

"You did come seriously close to losing your arm last week, when you won that bet in the dilo pits in Kilwauk" Hugh said.

"It twas not my fault those villains got cross when I won a their bet" Renfred stated.

Barry just listened to the banter, it was kind of neat. These guys all seemed to know each other quite well, like some kind of nutty family or something. Maybe eventually he could be a part of it too. That was a nice thought, only if he couldn't get home first. Comraderie was not worth being surrounded by vicious dinosaurs. "So, what does being on probation mean"? Barry suddenly piped up.

Hugh looked over at him. "Oh, it just means you're not allowed to take any animals out of the barn on your own, and you can't go into the vault. You won't be on probation for long, just don't be a murderer. You will have to pass Tyrone's trial" Hugh said.

Barry had heard that name before, it was the guy with the big lizard in his room. "So, what's Tyrone like"? Barry asked.

"Oh, Tyrone is quite the character" Bianca said with a chuckle.

"Lord Tyrone is a mighty warrior whom I am honored to obey" Renfred added.

"He's a badass you don't want to cross" Jackie cut in.

"Tyrone is a good friend of mine. We've been together on the Ark for a good twenty years, we started this tribe together. His trials are hard but they're never unfair" Hugh reassured.

"Really? He made me steal an egg from a pair of carnos" Nick complained.

"I remember that. You had Donald with you" Bianca said. Barry raised an eyebrow, he'd gotten to use the T rex and he felt like it was unfair.

"He'd been smaller then" Nick pointed out.

"Why are you all talking about me"? A gruff voice sounded behind them. Barry turned around and looked up at a muscular six foot five man with unkempt black hair.

"Oh hey Tyrone. Did you have fun going out" Bianca said.

Tyrone nodded and looked down at Barry. "Who the hell are you"?


	7. Chapter 7

"H-h-h-hi" Barry stammered out waving at Tyrone who grunted and looked over at Hugh for some sort of explanation.

"He's a new member of the tribe, on probation. Jackie brought him in when she got back from her run to Coldsreach" Hugh explained.

"He's better then he looks" Jackie told Tyrone. Barry tried very hard not to be hurt by that statement which she seemed to mean as a compliment.

"A newbie eh? Alright then I'll have to think of a trial for him, later for now I'm pretty hungry. What did Bianca the Beautiful cook tonight" Tyrone asked moving over and taking a seat beside of Hugh. Barry blinked confused, did that super scary guy just flirt?

Bianca giggled in response to that. "A bit of vegetable stew, what were you doing today Tyrone"? Bianca explained and asked.

Tyrone made himself a bowl and took a sip. "I took Eagle out to the Redwoods, the Treefolk had a couple Allo eggs they were advertising. Unfortunately, I was too late to trade for them" Tyrone said.

Jackie must've noticed my blank face when Treefolk were mentioned. "The Treefolk are a tribe of people that live in the Redwoods, they're called Treefolk because they build their houses on top of the trees. They always wear creepy wooden masks. I've only seen them twice they're kind of creepy".

Nick laughed at that, "they're not too bad. They're some of the best tamers on this island. I learned a lot of my tricks from them, and they're better than the Night Shriekers".

"Night _Screamers, _and a rabid megalania is better than the Night Screamers" Hugh corrected the short man. "Tyrone, Jackie lost her flyer on the way to Coldsreach we'll have to tame another soon", Hugh told the man.

"That's unfortunate. What happened to Goose, Deadshot"? Tyrone asked looking over to Jackie. Jackie looked down a little bit, Barry was a little confused. Jackie had mentioned she'd been flying on something and got shot down but she had never seemed very upset about it.

"I don't know, one minute we were flying the next a ballista bolt came out of nowhere a shot straight through Goose's head. I don't even know who did it" Jackie recounted.

"It was probably the Red Raiders. Those fuckers are getting out of line. I heard from the Treefolk they conquered Kilwauk" Tyrone said, he seemed like he had something personal against the Red Raiders whoever they are.

"We don't need to worry about these Raiders coming here right"? Barry suddenly piped up, giggling nervously.

"No, we probably don't. As far as I know the Red Raiders don't have anything that could take down the base. I don't even think they would have anyway to shoot a bird out of the air so it probably wasn't them that killed Goose. There's no way they're going to hold onto Kilwauk for very long. I haven't heard of them taming anything bigger than carnos. Don't the Vanguard own Kilwauk"? Hugh explained.

"We'll make a grave for Goose" Nick told Jackie to which she nodded silently, out of character for the moment, at least out of the character Barry had gauged from her.

"The Vanguard never do anything; they just sit up on their mountain fort and look down on everyone else. Useless bunch of pricks if you ask me. They're the only tribe on the island that managed to tame a giga and they don't ever do anything with it" Tyrone pointed out.

"Perhaps they lost their beast and don't want anyone to find out" Renfred threw out the idea. Barry didn't know what a giga was so he just stayed quiet. He was more wondering what Tyrone would make him do as a trial.

"Wouldn't surprise me. I bet one of them rode it off the mountainside" Nick added. Suddenly Tyrone perked up.

"New guy, I think I just thought of your Trial" Tyrone said, raising a single arm.

"What are you gonna have him do"? Jackie asked cocking her head.

"You never stay home very long do you"? Bianca said.

"We could use a couple guard animals, right now all we have is Donald and that's not good enough. Follow me Harry" Tyrone ordered.

"It's... Barry" Barry reminded Tyrone getting up.

"You know what I meant" Tyrone countered.

"Uh, Tyrone. I'm pretty sure Barry has never tamed something before" Jackie pointed out. Tyrone stopped for a second before shrugging.

"First time for everything. How do you do with Argentavis"? Tyrone asked looking at Barry as he moved up the stairs.

"Good luck" Hugh called after the two of them as they made their way up the stairs. Barry followed close behind Tyrone, the tribe leader in question moved out of a door Barry hadn't noticed the first time he'd come up, it led out to a flat area of stone. What looked like a turret was set up on the very edge of the landing pad. A large bird very similar to the one Jackie had rented back at Coldsreach.

"Oh... Is uh... That an Argentavis"? Barry said a bit nervously. The bird perked up at the noise, its neck feathers fluffed up as it cocked its head in their direction. It gave a bit of a warbled cooing noise at them.

"Yep that's Eagle. Hold still" Tyrone ordered. He climbed onto the back of the bird which began to fly in midair. Barry figured out pretty much what was going to happen about a minute before it did. The bird grabbed him in its talons, just like before and it flew upwards.

"I DON'T LIKE FLYING"! Barry shouted as they flew over the treetops and the bird began to flap towards a forest of trees the size of mountains which were visible due to their sheer size, it had to be several kilometers away.

"I DIDN'T ASK"! Tyrone shouted back. Barry was gonna point out he kinda did but Barry just shut his mouth and got ready for the long haul. He did the same thing he would've done last time if he hadn't been preoccupied with screaming, he just shut his eyes and opened them when he felt his feet hit the solid ground. "Could've sworn you passed out. We're here, prime animal taming territory. Look for anything that you think could kill you... No actually look for things that could kill _me, _an angry dodo could probably kill you" Tyrone called out hopping off of Eagle's back. The Argentavis in question stood still like some kind of trained horse.

"Rude" Barry said but he stood up straight and looked around. It was a weird spot, they were standing on a beach, a forest full of bamboo and tropical looking trees was behind us and a slow flowing river was in front of us. Across the water was a forest of the huge trees I'd seen earlier. Downriver the water opened up into what looked like a floodplain dotted with mangrove trees. A few skinny bipedal animals were drinking there. Suddenly what Barry thought was a log surged upwards and its jaws went around one of the animals before dragging them under. The motion took about ten seconds. "How about that thing"?

Tyrone looked over. "A sarco eh? That's pretty dangerous. I like your initiative" Tyrone told Barry. Tyrone brought his arm up and pulled what looked like a wooden baseball bat out of his implant. He offered it to Barry. "Take this to knock it out". Barry took the bat and looked at Tyrone like he was insane.

"Huh"?

Tyrone bust out laughing. "Okay you're not a complete dumbass. Listen, you can tame animals on this island by knocking them out and feeding them. It's completely ridiculous but it's how it works out. You can also steal babies but that's a little tougher because you've got to find the babies. Take this" Tyrone brought out a crossbow and a few green tipped arrows which he gave to Barry. "Feel free to keep those and the bat if the croc doesn't eat you" Tyrone said. He fiddled with his implant and where before he'd only been wearing some hide pants, now he wore what looked like metal armor.

"Any armor"? Barry asked hopefully.

"Nope, that you've gotta earn Larry" Tyrone said, he pulled a rifle from his implant and walked down the beach. The bird stayed put. "Don't worry about Eagle, she'll fly away if anything has a go at her". Tyrone aimed his rifle at what looked like a log floating upriver.

Barry pointed the crossbow as well. He'd never fired a crossbow before but he could _probably _hit his target. He pulled the trigger and with a twang the arrow shot forward and thumped right into the log which lifted its head and gave a loud bellow which caused the water to tremor. With unbelievable speed it came onto land and the sarco charged towards Barry. Apparently, it knew exactly who shot it. It wasn't too fast so Barry turned around and ran. Tyrone laughed at the show before firing what looked like a dart into the sarco's back leg. "Great job being a distraction, Terry", Tyrone called over before loading another dart and following.

Barry had to say he was getting very good at running away. He vaulted over a log which the croc bulldozed through. Barry ran and saw something ahead that wasn't good a big rock formation. He was so dead. Barry loaded another arrow into his bow, turned around, shut his eyes tight, and fired.

Barry shook in his shoes and waited for the pain of the bite but it never came. He opened his eyes and almost fell over from relief to see the croc lying unconscious. "I think you got the last shot, good job Barry" Tyrone said. He'd actually gotten Barry's name right.

Eagle plodded over and looked down at the croc as if slightly interested in the reptile. Tyrone brought up his arm in front of the croc, it glowed as Tyrone messed with it. "And now we wait. Oh, hey a hyenaedon" Tyrone said taking a seat. Barry turned around and jumped. A black dog was sniffing around nearby, presumably attracted by all the commotion.

"Is it gonna attack us"? Barry asked a little frightened by the animal.

"Naw, in fact you can go over there and pet it. But if it follows us back to base it's your responsibility" Tyrone said reclining against the gator like it was a chair. Barry eyed the dog, which noticed his gaze, it turned and looked at him. The dog barked at Barry and went to sniffing. Barry had never had a dog before, he kind of wanted a dog. He shrugged, fuck it, he was gonna pet the dog.

Barry reached forward and pat the dog between the ears, he expected to be bitten, but no. It just looked up and wagged its tail in his direction. It gave a yap and its tongue lolled out. Well that was easy.

"Consider the trial passed if we get this sarco back to base. Sorry if I gave you a hard time before, I just gotta make sure newbies know their place y'know. You're not useless, you'll get off probation soon, so long as you keep up the usefulness" Tyrone said before leaning back.

Barry sighed and sat on the sand. The dog placed itself over his legs and looked up at him. He absentmindedly pet his new pet while he waited for the giant alligator to wake up and hopefully not eat all of them. The trial had been freakin terrifying, but not too bad all things considered.


End file.
